Strip projecting squeeze toy



Mamh M, 1967 F. E. HINDMAN STRIP PROJECTING SQUEEZE TOY Filed May 5,1964 ATTOPNEV United States Patent 3,309,082 STRIP PROJECTING SQUEEZETOY Frederick E. Hindman, Omaha, Nebn, assignor to H. Fishlove and Co.,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 5, 1964, Ser. No.364,898 4 Claims. (Cl. 2728) This invention relates generally to anovelty item of a squeeze or pop-out type of toy, and particularly to asqueeze toy employing the element of surprise therewith.

Most of us are familiar with a plastic container for ketchup andmustard, the ketchup container being of a red color and the mustardcontainer of a yell-ow color, both to match the color of the liquid.This type of container has a generally nozzle-type cap, unscrewable forfilling purposes, and adapted when the container is squeezed, to emit asquirt or long thin stream of liquid.

We are also familiar with the tube and/or vacuum packed bottle ofshaving cream, icing for cakes and the like. In fact, we are familiarand used to all of these products of an edible or otherwise nature.Should any of these products accidentally come into contact with ourclothing We are also familiar with the unhappy fact of the cleaningwhich must be done to the cloth.

What We are not familiar with is the thought or the act of someoneintentionally pointing one of these containers at us and gleefullyspewing the con-tents all over our clothing. Our first thought, due toour fair play nature and heredity, is that it is a joke. To theattainment, therefore, of a novelty which gives the impression justmentioned is an object of this invention.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novelty of thesqueeze-type toy wherein manipulation of the toy simulates to the eye astream of liquid or semiliquid being emitted from the container, whereasactually only a long piece of harmless fibrous material is the culprit.

It is another object of this invention to provide a squeeze-type toycomprising a container of plastic or like resilient material with anaperture therein, and where a long piece of yarn or similar material isslidably extended through the aperture, such that squeezing of thecontainer results in the yarn being forced in a spiral nature outwardlyof the container, thus simulatingto the eye the emission of liquid orsemi-liquid therefrom.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a toy whereby one canplay a practical joke on another, without endangering the other in anyway, and with the toy being economical to manufacture, easy to operate,and extremely effective in use.

These objects, and other features and advantages of this invention willbecome readily apparent upon reference to the following description,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the squeeze toy of this invention,shown partly in section for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the toy shown in a squeezedcondition, the users hand not showing, and again partly in section forclarity of illustration;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the tip end of thenozzle of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the squeeze toy of this invention isindicated generally at in FIG. 1 and comprises basically a resilientcontainer 11 with an aperture 12 (FIG. 2) formed in the top thereof, andthrough which an elongated length of yarn 13 or the like is movablyinserted.

In particular, the container 11 includes an elongated hollow, circularhousing 14 having thin walls which form "ice a contractible chamber 16,and with an externally threaded neck 17. Fluid such as ketchup, mustard,or the like can be placed within the chamber 16 through the open neck17. To close the neck, a nozzle 18 is provided which screws down on theneck 17 to form a fluid tight seal, with the aperture 12 formed at thetip of the nozzle 18 the only means of egress for the fluid. Theaperture 12 is formed on the longitudinal axes of both the nozzle 18 andthe housing 14.

The yarn 13 can be of a conventional cotton yarn, and is fibrous as bestillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, comprising a plurality of slender andgreatly elongated natural or synthetic filaments. Its cross-sectionaldiameter is slightly less than the diameter of the circular aperture.The outer or lead end 19 (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the yarn is shown as beingidentical to the remainder, although it can be hardened by dipping inplastic cement or the like, and whereby the diameter of the end 19 wouldbe less than the diameter of the remainder of the yarn 13.

The inner end 21 of the yarn 13 is shown knotted so as to comprise aball of a diameter greater than that of the aperture for a purposehereinafter described. Conversely, however, for a slightly differenteffect also as explained hereinafter, the inner end 21 can be un-knottedand identical to the lead or outer end 19.

The squeeze toy 10' is used as follows. A yellow container 11 isprovided which is completely hollow, and free and clear of all fluid butair. The yarn 13 is also of a yellow color comparable to the color ofthe container 11 and of mustard. The yarn 13 is inserted through theaperture 12 with the majority of its length within the container chamber16, as best illustrated in FIG. 1, and with only the outer end 19showing.

The container 11 is then grasped firmly by the hand of the user andsqueezed toward and into the shape as depicted in FIG. 2. As a result ofthe squeezing action, some of the air within the chamber 16 is forcedoutwardly thereof, and due to the compression or decreased capacity ofthe chamber 16, the air is forced outwardly through the aperture 12under pressure (see the arrows in FIG. 3). As the yarn is of a fibrousnature, the air impinging thereon actually becomes somewhat interspersedwithin the yarn 13, and has enough force to impart motion to the yarn inthe same direction as the air.

Thus, the yarn 13 is moved outwardly of the aperture 12 until either theair flow is exhausted or until the knotted end 21 strikes the nozzle 18,it immediately spirals and twists. And unless the eyes are focuseddirectly on the yarn, which is generally not the case, it is blurredenough that the impression is one of a swirl of mustard. This isparticularly true where a yellow colored yarn is used.

After expulsion of the yarn 13, it is stuffed or poked back into thecontainer 11, which has re-attained its original condition of FIG. 1. Ifa knotted length of yarn 13 is not used, the entire length would haveleft the container. In this event, the plasticized lead is recommendedto make the re-entry easier. Or, of course, the nozzle 18 can be removedand the yarn 13 replaced in the FIG. 1 position from within. The toy 10is then ready for another squirt,

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described anddisclosed hereinbefore, it is to be remembered that variousmodifications and alternate constructions can be made thereto Withoutdeparting from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A squeeze toy device comprising in combination:

resilient means having a contractible chamber formed therein, saidresilient means having an aperture means formed therein whichcommunicates said chamber with the atmosphere; and

elongated fibrous means of diameter slightly less than said aperturemeans extending through said aperture means and into said chamber, saidresilient means squeezable' to force air outwardly through said aperturemeans, said forced air impinging said elongated means at said aperturemeans, whereby said air only imparts motion to said elongated means atsaid aperture means in a direction outwardly of said chamber. 2. Asqueeze toy device comprising in combination: resilient means having acontractible chamber formed therein, said resilient means having anaperture means formed therein which communicates said chamber with theatmosphere; and

elongated fibrous material means including an elon-.

ther wherein said one end of said elongated piece of said material has adiameter less than the diameter of the remainder of said material.

4..An amusement device comprising a hollow body having a wall. withopening means therein, a thin elon- 4 gated means slidably extendingthrough said opening means andmovable between a first position in whichsubstantially all of said elongated means is hidden from view relativetothe exterior of said hollow body, and a second position in which asubstantial portion of said elongated means extends from said hollowbody, manually operable means operatively associated with said hollowbody for compressing air therewithin, said opening meansbeing'cooperable with said elongated means whereby actuationof saidmanually operable means to compress air within the hollow body willforce a stream of said compressed air through said opening means toimpinge on said elongated means with said stream of impinging air movingsaid elongated means from said first position to said second position.

References Cited by-the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,448,326 3/1923Arnold 221-64 1,942,334 l/1934 Hayes 221-64 2,515,378 7/1950 Nicolle221-64 2,805,001 9/ 1957 Biederman 222-211 2,825,603 3/1958 Altergott222-215 X 2,940,686 6/1960 W'indisch 242-146 3,054,535 9/1962 Clarey222-215 3,134,515 5/1964 Callahan 222-211 3,232,557 2/1966 Winn 226-97RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, Examiner.

F. B. LEONARD, A. KRAMER, Assistant Examiners.

4. AN AMUSEMENT DEVICE COMPRISING A HOLLOW BODY HAVING A WALL WITHOPENING MEANS THEREIN, A THIN ELONGATED MEANS SLIDABLY EXTENDING THROUGHSAID OPENING MEANS AND MOVABLE BETWEEN A FIRST POSITION IN WHICHSUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF SAID ELONGATED MEANS IS HIDDEN FROM VIEW RELATIVETO THE EXTERIOR OF SAID HOLLOW BODY, AND A SECOND POSITION IN WHICH ASUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF SAID ELONGATED MEANS EXTENDS FROM SAID HOLLOWBODY, MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID HOLLOWBODY FOR COMPRESSING AIR THEREWITHIN, SAID OPENING MEANS BEINGCOOPERABLE WITH SAID ELONGATED MEANS WHEREBY ACTUATION OF SAID MANUALLYOPERABLE MEANS TO COMPRESS AIR WITHIN THE HOLLOW BODY WILL FORCE ASTREAM OF SAID COMPRESSED AIR THROUGH SAID OPENING MEANS TO IMPINGE ONSAID ELONGATED MEANS WITH SAID STREAM OF IMPINGING AIR MOVING SAIDELONGATED MEANS FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION.